Monthly Update: January 2017

Holy Crap. Not only am I way behind in my January update but I'm practically halfway through February. *sigh* As it turns out, 2017 has been just as fast-paced and hectic as 2016, if not more so! The good news is, it's all been super exciting stuff.

I feel like most people don't love January, but since it happens to be my birthday month it's usually one of my favorites. Here's a quick recap of what went down in January:

Met with financial planners

After completing the Invibed Wealth Coaching program, we were advised to take the next step towards getting our financial sh*t together by working with the experts at Stash Wealth. This group works with what they call H.E.N.R.Y.s, which stands for High Earner, Not Rich Yet. 😂

I'm excited to be working with this team because they have experts that can help us in various aspects of our financial lives, from my business to taxes, to investing and retirement planning. Our Stash team advised us to fill out a workbook with some of our life goals so that they could help us to plan our finances in order to make them happen. It kind of encouraged us to dream a little bit about things we would love to have or do with our lives, which we've rarely spent time doing. We tend to be super practical savers… you might even call me a tightwad. My super savvy savings tendencies have resulted in me being somewhat of a financial hoarder. The exercises have me realizing that I can loosen up our budget a bit, and that we should treat and enjoy ourselves a little more often than we currently do.

It feels really good to be taking some positive steps in this area, and I'm excited to see how working with this team can help us reach our goals! I feel totes grown up now, y'all.

E's Work Party

I accompanied E to his annual “holiday” party. I think it's kinda awesome that they plan their holiday party for January each year, after the hustle and bustle of the actual holidays is long over. It's always nice to meet the people that E works with, and it gave us an excuse to get dressed up for a little date. (Something I rarely do these days.) Dress was from my most recent Le Tote – by a brand called Noir – loved it!

I really enjoyed seeing the way his coworkers interacted with him. He seems to be loved by pretty much everyone, and that is super nice to see. He works super hard and is so great at what he does, so it made me happy to see how much he is respected and appreciated by his team.

E spends lots of time talking about how proud he is of me, but I'm really proud of him, too. It makes me even more grateful that he was willing to take this crazy leap of faith with me and move to NYC. We've both been given opportunities here that we never could've dreamed of back home, so I'm thrilled that this move has paid off for him as much as it has for me.

Pre-Ordered The LADYBOX

Y'all may have seen me tweet a time or two about my love for The LadyGang podcast. It's hosted by three awesome women who live and work in Hollywood. These ladies share some pretty unfiltered and hilariously honest convos about everything from skincare, weight, dating and relationships, career struggles and more. The tone is along the lines of the convos you'd have with your girlfriends over a boozy brunch. It's basically one of the highlights of my week and you should subscribe immediately.

Well, they launched an awesome subscription box late last year, appropriately titled, The LADYBOX that you simply must check out! They are rolling them out on a quarterly basis and the items in the boxes are hand-picked by the 3 leaders of The LadyGang. The last box contained a gorgeous choker necklace and some luxurious Josie Maran hand creme, among other things. The newest box has a FULL SIZE Kate Somerville skincare product (valued at $85) and the box itself costs only $49.99. That was reason enough for me to pre-order the upcoming box. I definitely recommend checking out the podcast *and* snagging a LADYBOX while you still can!

Saw a Play

E & I decided to take advantage of Broadway Week discounts and snagged a pair of tickets to our first play in NYC. We chose Front Page because it was a limited time run with a stellar cast. Seeing prominent performers like Nathan Lane, John Slattery, John Goodman, Robert Morse and more was a real treat. The play itself was a revival of a comedy from the 1920's. We had great seats in the lower section of the balcony, so it was a pretty nice theater experience.

I have to say, I do enjoy musicals far more than plays, but this was still pretty entertaining. The highlight though was walking into the theater and getting cut in line by none other than Paul Rudd. 😍 I had zero chill, y'all. I literally said, “It's Paul f*cking Rudd!” in a voice that was entirely too loud and soooo embarrassing. I don't know how E puts up with me…

Hosted another craft class

I teamed up with the FujiFilm Wonder Photo Shop here in NYC again to host another DIY craft class in their store. This time, we made save-the-dates! I've really enjoyed putting together these simple projects and talking about how to personalize your wedding day with photos. I had the opportunity to connect with a BSB reader who came to the event and it totally made my night! I just love the square photo prints they make — perfect for printing out your instagram photos and so easy to craft with!

Attended a blogger event

I was invited to check out some of the new pieces from Crate & Barrel and enjoy a day of pampering at the greenhouse in Bryant Park. I am obsessed with Crate & Barrel's product line and they put on a lovely event. They had massage chairs on site, mixed essential oils to take home, plus delicious (and beautiful) food, flowers, and more.

This event fell during the week leading up to my birthday, so it was nice to feel a little pampered! I honestly felt a bit intimidated by the super chic fashion bloggers there but I met several really nice people. I took a break from networking and events like this for a while but I'm trying to get out there a little more, and I'm so glad I did!

Saw the 👑 Lea Michele in concert

This was an absolutely incredible night. If you don't already know about my intense obsession love for Lea Michele, well… it's real. When she announced she'd be doing only three shows to preview music from her upcoming second album, I knew I had to go. Some friends and I snagged tickets for her only NYC show at The Appel Room. It was a really unique and incredible venue to see a concert, with the backdrop of the stage looking out over Columbus Circle.

The beautiful venue was nothing compared to this woman's vocals though. She's like the Barbra Streisand or Celine Dion of our generation, y'all. Her voice is so huge and when she sings you can feel her emotions in a way I can't even explain. I'm basically the biggest fangirl ever and it was such a special thing to be at this intimate show. I really enjoyed her stories that she shared as well as the songs from her new album – I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Saw Hamilton!!!

After almost a year since we bought our tickets, we finally got to be in the room where it happens on my actual birthday! With all the hype about this show, I went in with the absolute highest of expectations and I was still completely blown away. I laughed and tried my hardest not to sing along and I totally cried my face off. While I'll always be a little sad that I didn't get to see the original cast, the current company was truly phenomenal in their roles.

I don't know if my sensitivity is heightened because of the current state of affairs in our country, but this show just feels so important right now. I'm getting all emotional again just thinking about it. And of course, I've been continuing to listen to the soundtrack on repeat ever since. The hype is completely justified. Do whatever you can to see this show as soon as possible!!

Dinner at ABC Kitchen

This metallic dress (also by Noir via Le Tote) felt perfect for my birthday celebration of seeing Broadway's biggest hit ever and having dinner at my favorite: ABC Kitchen. I seriously don't think there's any restaurant I've ever eaten in that I've loved more. We always tend to go on birthdays in the winter time so E and I agreed that we need to plan to go back during other seasons of the year to check out their menus during other seasons!

Turned 33.

I was actually pretty excited for this birthday. For some reason, something about the repetition of 3-3 feels special to me. Apparently, 33 is the happiest age of people's lives… I'd say that's a pretty promising stat to know. 😉 Something about 33 has me feeling more confident and sure about myself. Maybe it's the current state of affairs or maybe it's just getting older, but I think I'm finally to a point where I just don't care as much about what other people think. It's incredibly freeing and I'm excited to see how putting myself out there more can open up new opportunities and experiences in my personal and professional life!

Went to the Martha Stewart Wedding Party

I had the pleasure of attending the Martha Stewart Wedding Party in NYC again this year and it was a fabulous event as always. I spotted some interesting new trends and ideas in the world of weddings that I'm excited to share on the blog. Again, I'm trying to get out there a bit more to network and meet new people so this was a great event to do just that. Plus, it's always fun to have a Martha Stewart sighting!

Visited Palm Springs

On the 31st, I hopped on a plane to head to Palm Springs for Alt Summit! I'll save my recap of the conference for my February post, because this is getting a little long, but suffice it to say that Palm Springs is AMAZING and I want to go back NOW.

Sorry this post was so delayed! Who am I kidding? I'm not sure if anyone is even reading these posts. 😂 As always, I'm trying my best, and just giving myself a little grace when things take longer than they could or should. February is already nearly half over and I already have lots of fun things to share in a few weeks. Until then…